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Airship Engines
The engine of an airship determines how fast an airship can accelerate and its top speed. There are 3 main factors to an airship engine: cost, fuel source, power factors. Larger engines generate more power factors but generally require more fuel and are much more expensive. Power Factors The difference between a ship's tonnage and its power factors is the ship's basic acceleration. Subtract the tonnage from the power factors, the result is the ship's maximum acceleration per round in MPH. Other features on an airship, such as its sails, can affect the ship's acceleration as well. If the ship doesn't have more power factors than tonnage, it simply does not have enough power to get off the ground. If a ship's power factors are equal to its tonnage, it has an acceleration of 1. It is possible for a ship to have more than one engine, but doing so causes a cumulative -2 penalty on all airship pilot checks for each engine after the first. Simply add the power factors of the two engines together. Ships equipped with dirigibles may need only a small engine or no engine at all to accelerate. Subtract the Dirigibles lift from the ship's tonnnage when determining acceleration. In general, an airship's speed is determined in factors of 10 mph. So an airship traveling at 16 mph would effectively be moving at 10 mph til it reached 20 mph. The ship's basic acceleration assumes that the engine is running at full power, reduced fuel reduces the engine's power factors, which also reduces the ship's acceleration and max speed accordingly. The Ship's max speed in mph is equal to its acceleration plus its power factors, or twice its acceleration, whichever is greater. With a few exceptions, no ship can travel greater than 200 mph. For the most part, airship engines have a maximum of 100 power factors. 'Engine Special Rules:' Arcane/Divine Engines: Rather than convert fuel into energy like a traditional engine, Arcane and Divine engines convert raw magical energy in power factors for a ship. This requires an arcane spellcaster for arcane engines, or a divine spellcaster for divine engines. *''Benefits:'' These engines are small, and do not require traditional fuel. *''Drawback:'' None *''Fuel Cost:'' None. It does requires either an arcane or divine spellcaster to form a link with it. The spellcaster must dedicate a number of spell slots to the engine while this link is in place. Every level of spell slot used provides enough fuel for 20 power factors for 1 hour. Additional spell slots allocated to the engine past its maximum power output provide addtional runtime. For example, if a 5th level spell slot would provide 100 power factors for one hour. If allocated to an engine with a 20 PF limit, it would provide enough fuel for 5 hours. Forging a link with an engine requires only 15 minutes of contact with it. The spellcaster does not need to dedicate any spell slots at the time the link is made, but may dedicate slots at any time as long as he is on the ship.Dedicating a slot is a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. While the slot is dedicated, the spellcaster loses access to that slot. Once the engine has burned through the slot, it is returned to the spellcaster, but is considered expended. *''Size:'' 1 ton per 50 power factors or fraction thereof. 1 critical slot per 100 power factors or fraction thereof. *''Catastrophic Failure:'' If the engine's hull points reach 0, it has suffered a catastrophic failure. Any spellcaster linked to the engine suffers 1d4 damage per level of each dedicated slot. Elemental Engine, Air: Air elemental engines provide enormous lift to their airships, but are very fragile. *''Benefits:'' Air elemental engines have their altitude ceiling raised to 750ft. The ship's manueverability is also increased by 1. *''Drawback:'' The engine has lower hardness and hull points than most engines. It also requires a spellcaster nearby to cast summon monster or heal when needed. *''Fuel Cost:'' Elemental engines draw their power from the life force of trapped elementals, typically summoned via summon monster spells. Once summoned, the elemental remains trapped inside until it is consumed, even after the spells duration expires. The engine can hold 2 HD of elementals for every 5 PF of its capacity. Generally one large elemental is preferred over several smaller ones, since the larger elemental lasts longer before being consumed. Each hit point of the the elemental burned generates 2 PF for one hour. Bound elementals, if not fully consumed, regenerate hit points at the rate of 5 per hour. It can be restored to full health with a Heal or greater spell, but Cure spells are ineffective. *''Size:'' 1 ton per 50 PF or fraction thereof, 1 critical slot per 100 PF or fraction thereof. *''Catastrophic Failure:'' If the engine is reduce to 0 hull points, The elemental is immediately freed from its bondage. An extraplanar rift is also formed that lasts less than a second, but causes 1 hull point of damage to the ship for every 20 PF of the engine. Elemental Engine, Fire: Fire elemental engines are best suited for airships that require a great deal of speed, but not manueverability. The massive exhaust ports required for the engine reduce the ship's turning radius and are clearly visible from a distance. These engines are favored on military vessels for their speed and destructive potential. The exhaust itself can be used as against vehicles on the airship's rear, some engineering modify the exhaust to be used as a Fire missile weapon. *''Benefits:'' As long as the engine has enough power factors for the ship to accelerate, its max speed is increased by 20 mph. *''Drawbacks:'' The airship's manueverability decreases by 2. In addition, the massive exhaust gives creatures a +10 on perception checks to spot the ship. It also requires a spellcaster nearby to cast summon monster or heal when needed. *''Fuel Cost:'' As air elemental engine. *''Size:'' 2 tons per 50 PF, 1 critical slot per 50 PF. *''Catastrophic Failure:'' If the engine's hull points are reduced to 0, the Elemental is immediately freed and a small extraplanar rift is opened for less than a second that cause 1 hull point of damage to the ship per 5 PF of or the engine, and starts a 10 ft square fire in the engine's former location. Energy Engine: Energy engines are a unique design that causes small amounts of positive and negative energy to collide and uses the power from the reaction to generate power factors. *''Benefits:'' This engine requires no fuel, whatsoever. *''Drawbacks:'' The engine requires one full hour to begin generating energy once it's turned on. In addition, the engine can't accelerate faster than 10 mph per round. *''Fuel Cost:'' None. *''Size:'' 1 ton per 25 PF, 1 critical slot per 50 PF. *''Catastrophic Failure:'' When the engine's hull points are reduced to 0, the engine's containment collapses and explodes, doing 1d4 hull points of damage to the ship per 5 PF. Fiendish Engine: This engine belches gouts of Brimestone gas from its vents at irregular intervals, filling the ship with the stench of sulfur. Building these engines requires a pact with an archfiend, which allows the engine to use of the fiend's vassals to power the engine. In exchange the ship's captain must do favors for the archfiend and its cult. The more powerful the engine, the more favors the captain must do. *''Benefits:'' The fiends that power the engine are willing participants, which increases the ship's manueverability by 2. *''Drawbacks:'' The fiends powering the engine do not allow the engine to kill them. The engine generates a maximum of 100 PF. Only one engine may be attached to an airship. *''Fuel Cost:'' None. A fiend is chained inside the engine and it slowly grinds away the fiends essence. The process is extremely painful, and the screams of the fiend can be heard throughout the ship. For each hit dice the fiend has, the engine generates 10 PF for for one hour, to a maximum of its power rating. Each hour, the fiend loses 1 hit dice. This will not kill the fiend, once it reaches 1 hit dice, it stops providing energy to the airship. After 8 hours of rest, the fiends hit dice regenerates. Multiple fiends can be stored within the same engine, either to provide additional PF, or to power the engine in shifts. The fiends take the form of soulstones given to the captain which can be linked to or removed from the engine. The captain must do favors for the archfiend's cult in order to keep the ship in the air. At the end of each month, the archfiend takes account of the favors done, and gives the captain fuel accordingly. *''Size:'' 1 ton plus 1 ton per 50 HD the engine can contain, 1 critical slot per 100 PF. *''Catastrophic Failure:'' When the engine's hull points are reduced to 0, the engine immediately stops functioning, but there are no other ill effects, as the fiends are quietly allowed to return to their realm. Necrotic Engine: Necrotic engines uses dead bodies as fuel. These bodies can be from any creature. The stench of these engines overwhelms most living creatures. *''Benefits:'' Living creatures on board airships with these engines must make a Fortitude save DC 20 or be nauseated for 2d6 rounds. Creatures with scent take a -2 penalty on the save. Whether the save succeeds or not, the creature is sickened as long as they remain aboard. *''Drawbacks:'' Only constructs, undead, and GM specified creatures are immune to the stench of these engines. *''Fuel Cost:'' Necrotic engines require flesh and bone to power them. The more powerful the creature, the more fuel it provides. For every HD of creature placed in the engine's furnace, the engine generates 5 PF for one hour. As many as 3 large creatures, 5 medium, 8 small, or 12 tiny creatures can be chopped up and put in the furnace at one time. *''Size:'' 1 ton. The engine's size never needs to be increased. It takes up 1 critical hit slot. *''Catastrophic failure:'' If the engine's hull points are reduced to 0, it ceases functioning. Other than the truly horrific stench, there are no additional side effects. Oil Burning Engine: Oil burning engines are the most common type of engine in merchant airships. They use the same type of oil that burns in lamps. Though more expensive than wood burning engines, Oil engines much more economically sound, since their fuel takes up less space, and produce less smoke than wood burning engines. *''Benefits:'' None. *''Drawbacks:'' None. *''Fuel Cost:'' Oil costs 4gp per gallon. One gallon of oil provides 2 PF for one hour. One ton of cargo space can hold up to 750 gallons of oil. *''Size:'' 1 ton per 10 PF, 1 critical slot per 50 PF. *''Catastrophic Failure:'' When the engine's hull points reach 0, the engine is immediately consumed in flames. The space the engine occupied becomes a fire that automatically spread to a new 10 ft square each round till it reaches a bulkhead, then it spreads in a new direction. It takes a number of rounds equal to the bulkhead's hardness for the fire to burn through, after which the fire spreads as normal. Vampiric Engine: Where a necrotic engine feeds on flesh and bone, vampiric engines use a creature's life force as fuel. The screams of the creature can sometimes be heard for days as the engine drains their life away. *''Benefits:'' These engines provide a great deal of power as long as there are living creatures to fuel it. *''Drawbacks:'' These engines require living creatures to fuel them, which must be strapped into a harness in the engine. If the creature escapes, the engine no longer has fuel, wich can cause some interesting, often fatal results. *''Fuel Cost:'' This engine uses living creatures for fuel. For every HD of life energy the creature possesses, it provides 5 PF for one hour. At the end of each hour, the life energy used is destroyed, which inflicts 1 negative level on the creature, which remains until removed, or the creature dies. Most engines are designed to accept fuel from more than one creature at a time, though typically, no more than 10. *''Size:'' 1 ton plus 1 ton per harness to be used by the engine. 1 critical slot. *''Catastrophic Failure:'' When the engine's hull points reach 0, the engine ceases working, but typically has no other ill effects. Wood Burning Engine: These are the cheapest airship engine available, the first, and still most common type. They are dirty, inefficient engines that produce huge columns of smoke from the airship and require vast amounts of wood for fuel. *''Benefits:'' This engine is amazingly cheap. *''Drawbacks:'' This engine produces huge amounts of smoke visible from great distances. Creatures gain a +5 bonus on perception checks to see the airship. *''Fuel Cost:'' Wood costs 2 sp per hour per power factor. One ton of cargo space holds enough wood for 500 hours of fuel for a ship with 1 PF. *''Size:'' 2 tons per 10 PF. 1 critical slot per 50 PF. *''Catastrophic Failure:'' The engine stops working.